HIZBUL MUJAHEDIN

HIZBUL MUJAHEDIN Hizbul Mujahedin (Hizb) emerged as one of the main rebel groups that challenged India’s rule over Kashmir Based in Azad Kashmir-the part of the state controlled by Pakistan-it sought to coordinate the activities of several groups of insurgents who were active in the Indian part of Kashmir Hizb wants the divided territory reunited and joined with Pakistan India, regarding Hizbul Mujahedin to be less radical compared to some other groups fighting in Kashmir, announced a unilateral ceasefire and hoped for a positive response from the organization It withdrew the offer after six months in the absence of similar overtures by rival groups, including Hizb On 23 April 2005, less than a week after the Musharraf-Manmohan Singh summit in New Delhi, in which India and Pakistan reiterated their wish to resolve the Kashmir dispute through bilateral dialogue, the Hizb leadership said that it would seriously consider any ceasefire offer by New Delhi “If they [the Indians] are serious about it [a ceasefire], Hizbul Mujahedin would seriously consider it,” said Ghazi Misbahuddin, chief operational commander of the organization However, he said that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to the Kashmiri wishes and on the basis of decades-old UN Security Council resolutions calling for a plebiscite in the region This position, the longstanding basis of Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir, was virtually abandoned by the administration of President Pervez Musharraf as it became engaged in a serious dialogue with India starting in January 2004